How to Blow Up Your Digital Marketing by Going “Rogue”
Published on February 15, 2017
Digital marketing isn’t something from a long time ago, or that’s taking place in a galaxy far, far away. It’s here right now, and it’s consistently evolving and changing to better suit the needs of businesses like yours.
Whether referring to SEO, social media marketing, digital newsletter creation, or any combination of the above, digital marketing is a vital cornerstone of getting – and keeping – customers in today’s small business landscape.
Think of optimizing your digital marketing like this… Remember those two photon blasters that Luke Skywalker shoots into the Death Star? That’s digital marketing, and what it can do, in a nutshell: One small action that leads to a massive chain reaction that forever changes the galaxy (or, at least, that forever broadens your customer pool).
We’ve written before about the many surprising connections between Star Wars and digital marketing, but there’s one thing we missed – going rogue.
Luke Skywalker isn’t the end-all-be-all of the Star Wars universe, and the most common nuggets of digital marketing aren’t the only things that will spark a revolution for your brand. Inspired by the scrappy underdogs of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, here are three overlooked kernels of wisdom that you can put to work in your digital marketing right now:
*SPOILERS BELOW*
1.) Be Like Saw Gerrera and Learn About Your Users
In Rogue One, rebel fanatic Saw Gerrera (played by Forest Whitaker) sics a massive, tentacle-waving monster on Imperial defector Bodhi (Riz Ahmed), promising that the creature will be able to read his mind – although maybe at the expense of Bodhi’s sanity.
We’re not saying you should mentally ravage your client base. Quite the opposite, in fact! But you should follow Saw’s lead and learn everything that it is possible to know about your ideal user; fortunately, we have much more sophisticated tools at our disposal than monstrous Bor Gullets.
First and foremost, are you using social media and Google Analytics to listen to your audience? To figure out who they are, where they’re living, what types of content they’re sharing, reading, or avoiding? Once you’ve created some audience profiles with social listening, you can better figure out what kind of content to create for your users, as well as how to better provide this content to your users – whether that means targeted social media advertising, keyword-focused SEM, or a more traditional virtual newsletter.
2.) Be Like K-2SO and Reuse Old Content
K-2SO is a former Imperial droid, reprogrammed to work alongside R2 and C3PO on behalf of the Rebel Alliance. Just like General Organa and Mon Mothma were able to find a new use for this old droid, so you can revamp, refresh, and recirculate your existing content marketing, to amazing new results.
First, always be looking to add value to your old blog and multimedia posts. Are there new statistics that could be relevant to the article? Has there been a change, perhaps in governmental power, which affects the topic you were discussing? Once you’ve updated your copy, audit the rest of your post for optimization, including the page’s URL and meta-description. And, once you’ve given that dusty old post new life, don’t be afraid to reshare it on your social channels and watch those valuable new leads roll in.
3.) Be Like Jyn Erso and Gather a Great Team
Just like Rebel soldier Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) was only able to steal the Death Star plans thanks to Cassian Andor, Bodhi, Baze Malbus, and the rest of her rogue gang, so too must you remember that great digital marketing is all about building dialogue, trust, and community.
While it may be tempting to try to go it alone, your users and their needs must always be first and foremost in your mind. Besides catering and targeting your content, as we discussed earlier, responding to your customer’s needs means everything from designing a functional, mobile-optimized website to effectively responding to criticism and complaints on social media.
Don’t just talk, listen! And don’t be afraid to mobilize your audience, whether that means implementing user-generated content (like reviews and testimonials) into your marketing, or promoting quizzes, contests, and polls on social media. The outcomes are endless, and you can’t take the journey alone!
And if all of this seems too daunting, Geek is here to help! Think of us as your Red Leader, flying side-by-side with you into the heart of the Galactic Empire. Drop us a line today to get the digital marketing conversation started!
